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THEOSIS and the Pursuit of Godlikeness

[St. Athanasius: “Becoming by Grace what God is by Nature”] Theosis is about the revelation of divinity in the Sacrament of Natural Order. Fidelity to Sacrament is fidelity to divine revelation, what is, understanding Godlikeness and conscionable, Godlike living. Authentic living is enabled in the pursuit of Godlikeness, in understanding and in living.

As Christians who seek to live faithfully to divine purposes, we must ask ourselves, “how do we advance or frustrate divine revelation? How have we culturally digressed from Godlikeness and caused the frustration of nature, of divine revelation? How do we fail to understand that RELIGION IS ABOUT GODLIKE RELATIONSHIPS AND IRRELIGION IS ABOUT UNGODLIKE RELATIONSHIPS?

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The only diet for a peacemaker is a vegetarian diet

  On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.    Tuesday, July 8, 2008  
       Vol. 2, No. 44  

In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last week to speak at the National Convention of Unitarian Universalists, I met my old friend Bruce Friedrich. We spent eight memorable months together in a tiny jail cell, along with Philip Berrigan, for our 1993 Plowshares disarmament action. A former Catholic Worker, Bruce is now one of the leaders of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He gave a brilliant workshop on the importance of becoming a vegetarian, something I urge everyone to consider.

Oprah's unorthodox gospel comes under scrutiny

By ADELLE M. BANKS, Religion News Service

Oprah Winfrey has become a catalyst for a new journalistic project and increasing news coverage by conservative Christians questioning and criticizing her spiritual beliefs.

Some evangelical Christians have voiced alarm that Winfrey is introducing the 46 million viewers who watch her each week to nontraditional spirituality they don't condone.

Vatican regrets Church of England's move toward women bishops

By Cindy Wooden,Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has expressed its disappointment with a July 7 decision by the Church of England, the mother church of the Anglican Communion, to move ahead with plans to allow the ordination of women bishops.

"We have learned with disappointment of the news of the vote by the Church of England that opens the way to the introduction of legislation that leads to the ordination of women bishops," said a July 8 statement from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Why not polygamy?

I am waiting for a lawsuit to be brought forward, to require any state that recognizes homosexual marriages to also recognize inter-sexual polygamous marriages. I cannot think of a reason to deny inter-sexual (that is, any combination of any number of males and females) in polygamous marriage, once homosexual marriages are allowed to be legal. Once Judeo-Christian morality is abandoned, and the natural law is denied, and justice is defined as the pc opinion and judgment of the individuals currently on the bench, then what argument can be brought against polygamy?

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Battlescars: women’s souls cannot be killed

  El Rio Debajo El Rio: The river beneath the river, by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola EstĂ©s  
Vol. 1, No. 17 -- July 8, 2008Signup for Weekly E-mail  

My grandmother, Katerin, used to talk back to the priest on TV. She had an entire litany: Don’t tell me to be like Blessed Mother if you don’t really mean it all the way down to your bones, Father. Blessed Mother didn’t let anyone tell her what to do, except God. So, unless you’re God, don’t be trying to tell us what to do all the time. I just got a big phone call from heaven: God says there’s a big difference between really being God, and just thinking you are.”

The Blessed Mother is sometimes called in Spanish, La Sueñodora, the holy one who shows us we are pregnant with brave new dreams, and she expects us to follow through ... all the way .... as she did ... no matter how many human beings object.

Some can recognize the co-superiority of women with men. Some cannot. Those who cannot, create a world by rote.

GOD, NOT THREE, BUT ONE (The Falacy of Trinity).

ONE GOD, NOT THREE

(2Tim.1:7 & Num.11:23-29

(The Fallacy of Trinity)

God is supreme and sovereign and He has all things under control according to His Will, Word and His spirit. He made you and me and now He has sent His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem every one of us. If you reject Him, you will live hereafter without Him, but if you believe in Him and accept His offer, you will meet God one of these days. However, you have to let Him guide, lead, direct and watch over your life by the spirit of God. God knows all things and He will not allow you to be deceived if you are committed to Him in Christ through the spirit of God.

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Give Alternative Medicine a Chance

Those who advocate surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as cancer cures are only using manipulated data when presenting their case. There are effective alternative treatments that the medical profession and the pharmaceutical companies refuse to consider. Tanya Harper Pierce tells about carcinogenic products generated by industry, the misleading statistics generated by the National Cancer Institute and many effective alternative treatments in Oursmart Your Cancer: Alternative Non-Toxic Treatments That Work. She is a marriage, family and child counselor who began researching alternative cancer treatments after a family member was diagnosed with cancer. Chapter 23, “Dealing With Fear and the Mind/Body Connection,” is effective counseling for anyone with cancer.

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Selfish Reasons to Abolish Poverty

The United States and the European Union have selfish reasons to abolish world poverty: combat terrorists and reduce illegal immigration flow.

A world wide anti-poverty program will diminish the terrorists’ recruiting pool. Well-fed people do not contribute to terrorists’ causes. Some point out that the 9/11 hijackers were not poor with the inference that poverty and injustice have no bearing on terrorism. In fact, middle class people have always organized social movements. In his classic work, Anatomy of Revolution, historian Crane Britton examined the English, American, French and Russian Revolutions and found that middle class and upper class people lead them all. Poor people became involved only at the fringes. Reducing poverty means reducing terrorist activity.

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'Nondogmatic,' 'pragmatic' describe religious Americans

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 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey
'Nondogmatic,' 'pragmatic' describe religious Americans
John Green, senior research fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, says the result of the forum’s recent survey on Americans’ religions beliefs and practices “surprised” and “stunned” him. The study debunks stereotypes about religious affiliation, beliefs and practices, Green said June 23. And it found that most Americans have a nondogmatic approach to faith. Green, one of the principal authors of the report, spoke at a news conference releasing the results of the second part of Pew’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. The first part was released in February.